Oona and Starry Night are half-sisters. Their momma, Rupa, is nearly rumpless. Their fathers are from a unique flock of birds thought to be composites of birds indigenous to South and Central America and the Pacific Isles. These girls are very small, slow to mature, and a bit more wild than a typical bantam.
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Oona spent last winter as a house pet in our sun room so she got to "help" unwrap presents Christmas morning. She has dark skin and wild pattern plumage. Her stint as a house pet has given her a prima donna complex but typically she is exceptionally silent.
Star is a few months older than Oona and she stayed in the Aikiko Project House over the winter. She carries the mottling gene and has the tell tale white dots and white skin. Her brother, Xeryus, also carries the mottling gene but he has dark skin. He is equally rumpless.
It took Oona and Star both almost a full year to start laying. This is consistent with my experience with the mother, "Rupa" and sister "Cerci". It is interesting to note that Rupa's eggs are a rather pale, matte blue with a slight green tinge. All of her daughters lay shiny blue eggs without a hint of green.
These girls are part of the Aikiko Project but the project is paused until fall. The Aikiko Project is a hatching eggs / genetics learning collaboration. Participants contribute information about their hatches, help puzzle out the genotypes of project birds, and guide project development. The project group currently functions using facebook, ancestry.com, and photobucket. A dedicated website is being developed for the fall.
